Millis High project keys on sanitizing bathrooms

Monday

In April 2017 the two girls decided to do something about it, which led to a yearlong senior project on sanitation.

“Our overall goal was to decrease the amount of bacteria found in the girls bathroom by implementing different sanitation devices that bathroom users could use,” Lucas said. “At first, we wanted to do something different than what we actually did. We wanted to swab the bathrooms and test them for E. coli and then see if we had E. coli in the bathroom or not and then implement sanitation procedures.”

This idea proved to be more expensive than the students expected, even with fundraising, so the two had to make changes. Specifically, they changed from looking for E. coli to testing for bacteria in general.

With the help of science teachers Stephanie Copice and Scott Alconada, along with physical education and health teacher Scott Kendrick, they designed and performed two experiments.

On two separate days a week apart, the girls swabbed 10 different spots in two bathrooms at 7:30 a.m. One swab was the control for the experiment and another was the variable. A second swabbing would take place about 2:40 p.m., after the school day was completed. The first day of swabbing was before changes were undertaken to promote a more sanitary environment, the second day of swabbing was performed after.

From there, the samples were incubated to grow the bacteria and get a good look as to how much there was through a spectrophotometer, a device that measures particles through wavelength.

The study found that even though the bathrooms were cleaned, the bacteria regrew. After the installation and use of sanitation, however, less bacteria regrew.

“In a place like this, where there are only male janitors here, it’s going to be difficult to shut down the bathrooms during the day and sterilize the bathrooms,” Lucas said. She noted a study by the University of San Diego in which scientists sterilized bathrooms with bleach, took samples with swabs, and then swabbed again an hour later and found that the bacteria regrew.

“Basically, our janitors would have to be in there at least every hour to make sure everything was completely clean and sterile - which is impossible, I think, in any bathroom,” Lucas said.

Changes came from their testing in the form of no-touch paper towel dispensers, toilet seat covers and hand sanitizer dispensers that the girls purchased themselves through grant funding and $450 in fundraising. The dispensers, along with the experiment in general, were well received by other students.

“A lot of the reviews I heard from the students using (the hand sanitizer dispenser) was that they liked being able to have a part in keeping (the bathrooms) sanitary instead of just depending on the janitors to keep it clean,” Azir said. “They liked that they could use the hand sanitizer going in and out and that they weren’t walking around with everyone’s germs everywhere.”

The experience proved to be a helpful introduction to what science and conducting research outside of the classroom is truly like.

“When we started this, we kind of realized that, ‘This takes so much money, this takes so much longer than we really expected,’ plus we came up with the procedure so there’s a lot more to it than at least I had thought before,” Azir said.

Copice complimented the girls on their work.

"It was pretty impressive to put the time in and complete this project," she said, noting that the project began more than a year ago and the girls showed "mental fortitude" for pushing through challenges.

Both girls plan on continuing their academic pursuit of science. Lucas plans on studying medical science at Seattle Pacific University and wants to be a psychiatrist. Azir plans to study cellular and molecular biology at Northeastern University.

The importance of conducting this research, the girls found, was ultimately to show that everyone can play a part in keeping bathrooms clean.

“It shows that it’s not just on the janitors, it’s not just on the custodial staff, but that the people who actually use the bathroom can impact how clean everything is,” Azir said.